How Dare He
by Amelia Opal
Summary: "Goodnight." James smiled and began to walk away. "Yeah, goodnight" Lily called back, in a voice quieter than a whisper. The butterflies were back. JILY fluff. I'm really bad at summaries! Enjoy!
1. How He Antagonized Defenceless Students

**Lily Evans hated James Potter. **

**She hated the way he antagonized defenseless students in the corridors.**

James Potter was walking alone through the fourth level corridor and heard a small whimper. He spun around and was face to face with a small, Ravenclaw third year.

"Are you alright?"

Nothing.

"I'm James, what's your name?"

"C….C…C…Clare."

"That's a nice name."

More sobs.

"Clare, seriously, what's wrong?"

"I…I…I have a b..b..b..boyfriend. This was our special spot, I couldn't find him so I came here, and"

The girl broke down in sobs.

"Where is he?"

Clare pointed towards a corner a couple of meters away and sure enough there was a third year Slytherin aggressively making out with a female Ravenclaw.

"That little bitch." James muttered as he stormed towards the direction of the two third years.

"OII, AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"What does it look like?" Smirked the Slytherin boy who had stopped hooking up with the giggling girl.

"Well to me, it looks like your cheating on your girlfriend, how about that?"

"Clare? Nah that bitch is in the library, like a good little girl. How frigid"

"A good girl? Oh honey I can assure you that I am anything but." James whirled around and sure enough, he was face to face with a more confident looking Clare, once again.

Clare raised her wand and smiled.

"Locomotor Wibbly"

The Slytherin's legs gave way and he had to grab on to the girl he was with to keep his balance.

Clare took another step towards her ex and raised her wand higher.

"Petrificus totalus"

The obnoxious cheater was frozen.

"Oh what the heck" Clare muttered as she put her wand onto her back pocket, "these things are useless."

Clare took one more step towards the frozen boy and slapped him square across his ugly face. Looking a lot more satisfied she then turned towards the girl her ex was with, "Scram" she whispered. The girl ran off.

James shook his head, smiled and high fived Clare as she victoriously walked away.

James stood staring at the nasty Slytherin standing frozen in front of him, he chuckled lightly and walked away.

~~~~~ Lily ~~~~~~~

Lily Evans was rounding a corner on the fourth level corridor when she saw _him. _

James Potter was staring at a poor, frozen Slytherin third year, he laughed and walked away. He hexed this innocent third year and _laughed. _ How dare he.


	2. How He Didn't Care About His School Work

**She hated the way he didn't give a flying crap about his schoolwork.**

James and Sirius let out a loud laugh during McGonagalls lesson.

"Potter, Black, may I ask what is so hilarious about animagi?"

"Nothing Professor, the subject is very serious to both of us."

"Really now?"

"I'm Serious!"

Sirius laughed at his own Sirius pun while James snorted and gave him a not so secret high five.

"Are you two finding my lesson boring?"

"Boring? This lesson is really interesting."

"Yeah Minnie, I believe this lesson is barking mad."

"In the best way possible!"

"BOYS"

"As quiet as mice." James promised as he nudged Sirius.

"Well then, the Animagi process is extremely long and complicated. It has taken great wizards centuries to perfect their transformations."

McGonagall was gone, in her place stood a thin, tabby cat.

"Awh Damn, I've always been a dog person."

Sirius whispered to James. James lost it completely and laughed his head off.

James and Sirius would never admit it, but they were poking fun at this lesson for Remus' sake. Remus was a horrible liar and felt so incredibly uncomfortable learning about various subjects, such as Animagus transformations and of course studying Werewolves.

With them continuously disrupting the lesson with stupid but all so hilarious puns, Remus could take his mind of the lesson and laugh along with them.

After the lesson James and Sirius high-fived, a lot quieter this time. Remus wasn't uncomfortable at all; he looked calm, relaxed and carefree. They had succeeded.

"OII EVANS"

Lily spun around and glared at James.

"What?"

"Go out with me, Eh?"

"POTTER, I WOULDN'T USE YOU IF I WAS ON FIRE AND YOU WERE THE LAST BUCKET OF WATER ON THE PLANNET"

"But Flower, you're always on fire."

Lily stood up, smacked her books on her table and stormed out the classroom.

~~~~~ Lily ~~~~~~~

James was such an arrogant prick. He thought that he was top shit and that irritated the hell out of her. Potter continuously disrupting an interesting lesson on transfiguration.

Better yet, Animagi. Lily hadn't heard of this fascinating form of magic and for these boys to spoil this lesson for her was egocentric.

She couldn't believe that no one notice the two boys high five silently at the end of McGonagall's lesson, oh the nerve of them, thinking that they succeeded in disturbing the lesson. Couldn't they tell that their poor professor was trying her best to teach a class?

Who died and let Potter become king? Oh and at the end of the lesson he asked me out.

HE ASKED ME OUT.

_HE ASKED ME OUT._

**HE ASKED ME OUT.**

I didn't get overly angry, for McGonagall's sake. All I did was insult him and then he called me HOT. I left the classroom, he couldn't see me blush, never. I swear to god I am going to kill that kid. Embarrassing me during lessons? How dare he.


	3. How He Got Top Marks Without Trying

**She hated the way he got top marks without even trying.**

"Sirius Black, I'm impressed, 90%."

McGonagall was walking up and down the classroom handing out results to the Animagi exam that her class had previously sat.

"Marlene Mckinnon, 78%" Marlene put her head in her hands and groaned, Lily immediately placed her hand on Marlene's back, reassuring her.

"Remus Lupin, 92%."

"I GOT TWO LESS PERCENTS THAN MOONY!" Sirius jumped up and did a little victory dance.

"Sit." Ordered James.

Sirius sat down obediently.

"Good boy, Good boy." James gushed.

"His not your frickin pet Potter."

"My dear Lily flower, Snuffles here has feelings too."

Remus fell to the floor laughing.

McGonagall shook her head silently, these kids were the death of her, but even she couldn't deny the fact that she loved them.

"Lily Evans, 98%" Lily positively beamed as she got her paper back.

"James Potter, 100%. My dear gosh I'm impressed." James smiled, this time not a smirk. He thanked his professor and read his paper.

"Now if only Mr Potter could put as much effort into his classwork as he does in his tests…" McGonagall shook her head as the class laughed.

Sirius thumped James on the back.

"I don't know why, but these answers just came naturally to me. I felt as if I truly experienced the animagi process." James bragged to Sirius.

"I felt that too, this feeling is barking mad."

James, Remus and Sirius laughed their heads off. Peter laughed uncertainly; they probably were going to have to explain the joke to him later.

"EVANS"

Lily took a deep breath out and turned around. 

"LOOK DOWN AT YOUR DESK"

Lily looked embarrased, he screamed so loud she bet that they could hear him down in the dungeons.

Lily looked down and sure enough sitting on her desk was a rose with a not attatched. She looked at the rose and read the note.

_My dear Lilly Flower,_

_I solemnly swear that I never ever think about you in the shower,_

_Okay maybe once or twice but that doesn't matter,_

_Thinking of you makes me as mad as the hatter,_

**It does.**

_Oii sirius you big prune this is supposed to be MY love poem_

**This is about as romantic as Snivelly in a dress.**

_Leave._

**Fine.**

_As I was saying before I was so RUDELY interrupted by mr black,_

_I want you to know that I'll always have your back,_

_A life for a life,_

_A tea for a tea,_

_Please Lily Evans,_

_Go out with me._

Lilly pulled out her wand

"Incendio"

Burned the note.

pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill,

stood up, dropped the note in James' lap and sauntered out of the classroom.

All heads turned to James as he opened the note with a smile,

_Potter,_

_Go die in a hole._

_Lily._

James banged his head on the table as Sirius laughed his head off.

When the lesson was over James left the classroom, he put so much effort into his essay and he was so glad that his effort had payed off, he thought that Evans would be impressed.

He must try harder.

~~~~~ Lily ~~~~~~~

Potter got first mark in transfiguration, I absolutely can't believe it. He didn't listen the slightest bit during that lesson and yet, he beat me. He didn't even smirk, oh the nerve of him, pretending to be good and intelligent.

Everyone knows he is just arrogant and foolish, I bet he will stick his results onto the Gryffindor notice board just for the praise and no one would take it down, just because he is Mr Fabulous James Potter.

Professor said that if only he put the same amount of effort in his classes the way he does in his essays. But the annoying thing is he didn't put any effort into his essay, he is genetically smart.

He didn't try for full marks, he didn't even put effort into it, and he doesn't care about his marks or his classes. He thinks that his good genes would get him everywhere in life but everyone knows that it takes a lot more than good looks, I mean good genes to do anything notable.

James doesn't have good looks; he is uglier than the giant squid. Okay maybe not… Curse James Potter's good looks for making me feel this, I am not even attracted to him, he is vile and stupid and rude and arrogant.

He then asked me out AGAIN.

This was the third time all week that he asked me out,

Todays Tuesday.

He thinks he has me wrapped around his finger, I'm not as stupid as the other girls at this school. James thinking he would actually get a yes out of me? Who does he think I am? Who does he think he is? How dare he.


	4. How He Confused Her

**She hated the way he confused her.**

James wasn't even going to deny that last night was tough. Remus' wolf form seemed especially violent and angry that night, Sirius and James had finally managed to coax him back into the whomping willow before collapsing onto the ground, exhausted.

Although it was tough, James felt victorious and triumphant. Their friend has gotten much more cheerful, relaxed and happy ever since they accompanied him during full moons.

That morning James couldn't wake up, no matter how hard Sirius and Peter had tried, James wouldn't budge.

"We're going to be late for breakfast." Peter complained.

"You go on ahead, I'll stay here with this old loaf." Smiled Sirius looking down at his sleeping friend.

"Suit yourself." Peter got up and left to go to the great hall for breakfast.

"Cmon buddy, his gone."

"Ughhhhh"

"You look like a condensed monkey while you're sleeping."

"Thanks."

"Now. Spill"

"Excuse me?"

"About Ms Evans?"

"What about her?"

"Prongs we both know that this little crush you have going has turned into something much more."

"I have no clue what you're talking about Padfoot."

"Prongs you can tell me, Its only you and I here, we are closer than the others. You can trust me with anything."

"You're right, I can trust you with anything, heck I trust you with my life. But I still don't know what you're talking about."

"Cmon James, drop the act. You really do love her, don't you?"

"Well, yeah. I really do."

"Then go for her."

"What do you think I have been trying to do all this time? Geez Padfoot, open your eyes. I ask her out every second day."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. Don't go for her, drop the chase. Just act sweet, kind and helpful. Don't hex random kids in the corridors and put real effort into your work."

"But I _do _put effort into my work."

"Your essays, yes. But not your classwork."

"But classwork doesn't matter."

"Not to you, but to her."

"Mmh. Alright Pads, I'll try it. Thanks, really. For telling me, without Moony or Wormtail around. I wouldn't have been able to admit it, both to you and to myself."

"Geez that's deep. Now come give Mama Paddy a hug."

Sirius lunged forward and hugged james, he smiled and hugged him back.

He knew that they were mates for life.

Neither knew, that behind the door stood a teary eyed Peter, who put his head down and took off towards the great hall.

After that overly mushy confrontation with Sirius that morning and keeping Remus' wolf form behaved all night he couldn't keep his eyes open. The old him would've just skipped class or better yet slept during class. It was Herbology after all. But James knew that it would disappoint and infuriate Lily, so he kept his head up, answered questions and tried genuinely hard during class.

He looked over at Sirius who looked like he could drop any minute, Sirius noticed that someone was looking at him; he looked up and locked eyes with James. James smirked at Sirius who nodded and smiled.

It was almost as if they had their own language, they truly were brothers after all.

10 minutes during the lesson Remus walked slowly into the classroom. After such a hectic night for James and Sirius, Remus actually looked much better than he usually looked after his transformations.

James moved over and Remus sat down next to him, once everyone had turned around to focus on their plants, Remus leant over to James and gave him a hug and a nod.

"Thank you"

"Don't mention it."

"No seriously James, I know how exhausted you are, go back to our room and get some rest, I'll make up a story for Sprout."

"I can't Moony."

"Ahh Evans I see?"

"How did you know about that"

"Young Prongs, I know everything."

"It seems so."

Remus was about to retort another witty comeback when James quickly glared at him. Remus looked around and sure enough Lily was looking at them.

James wanted to look like the perfect student so he smiled at Lily and went back to his plant. Remus was really glad that his friend was finally growing up.

~~~~~ Lily ~~~~~~~

Today was a weird day to say the least. It started when I was walking down the steps to go to the common room, I say Peter leave his dorm but stand outside, with an ear pressed against the door, eavesdropping.

I quickly hid behind a curtain and watched him. It seemed as if something was bothering him, he must've been kicked out of his room so the others could discuss something. That is **SO **like James, kicking someone out of his own dorm to speak to someone.

An annoying thought came through my mind, what if Peter left the room on his own accord to see what the others would say if he wasn't present? I quickly pushed the thought out of my head. Nah, Peter wouldn't do something like that, he is either too innocent or too stupid.

Something suddenly really upset Peter and he trudged down the stairs towards the common room door, probably going to breakfast.

Today in Herbology I realized Remus was missing, I flipped my watch over and checked the lunar calendar; it was a full moon last night, poor Remus. Why do bad things happen to such good people?

Potter and Black walked in, I am usually very early for lessons and they usually come late. I checked my watch again, 3:26. What? This makes no sense, they are four minutes early.

They sat at opposite ends of the room, which is also very strange and start setting up their quills and parchment. James scans the room, looks right at me.

"Lily" He smiles and nods.

"James"

James? Acknowledging me? With a genuine smile and nod? Not even a smirk? Who are you and what have you done with James Potter?

Well actually I don't mind that much, I like him better this way.

We were about 10 minutes during the lesson and _still _nothing from James. He answers questions, joins discussions, is polite, actually does his work and gets praised upon his perfect demonstration.

I swear I have never been more surprised in my life. He looked over at Sirius and smiled to himself, something is happening, he knows something I don't. Sirius looks up and smirks and nods, what is happening? They didn't even shout something obnoxious at each other.

I swear to god I'm going to faint. That's when Remus finally shows up and I've got to say, looks amazing. I don't mean in the good-looking way, well Remus has always been pretty good looking; he just looks great health wise.

This is probably the best I have seen him the day after a transformation, James quickly moves over and makes room for him, Remus smiles and sits down. What is with everyone today? Remus leans over towards James and gives him a hug, not a "Bro hug" when they slap hands and thump backs, but a really nice, authentic hug.

James surprisingly hugs him back and smiles. I don't know why, but Remus looks really grateful towards James, he whispers something to him and James whispers back. They seemed to be having an argument, but not a rude or mean argument, more like a sweet, caring argument.

I think that James saw me looking at him; he quickly shuts Remus up, smiles at me and continues his work.

I don't know whether I like James or not anymore. He's just confusing. He thinks he can play me, he thinks he has succeeded in confusing me, which he has, I just won't admit.

Playing me like this, how dare he.


	5. How He Was Such A Distraction

**She hated the way he was such a distraction.**

James Potter woke up to an over excited, obnoxiously loud, Sirius Black.

"PROOOONGSSSIIIIEEEE POOOOOO!"

James groaned and pulled his pillow over his head.

"NO MY PRONGS YOU WILL NOT GO TO SLEEP YOU HEAR ME?"

"Sirius, I think everyone at Hogwarts heard you" Muttered Remus as he pulled his tie over his head.

"I ACTUALLY DON'T CARE, JUST GET UP PRONGS!"

"What's the big rush? We have Potions first period." James murmured as he stretched and turned over.

"Well… SOMEONE decided to make a good impression on a certain gorgeous redhead…."

"LILY!" James screamed as he threw his sheets back, jumped out of bed and ran towards his dresser.

"Ahh, young love." Sirius smiled and shook his head.

Sirius had to dodge the pillow that a laughing Remus threw towards his head.

Peter sat on his bed, in the corner of their dorm wondering what the heck the others were talking about, or in Sirius' case, screaming about. It was times like this that it was the hardest to pretend that everything was fine, that he, Peter Pettigrew was indeed, fine.

James sprinted out of the common room with Sirius and Remus laughing their heads off, hot on his tail. Peter Pettigrew wasn't with them; he took a slight, 'detour' to get to the great hall for breakfast.

No one knew then where he was, but they do now, for this quick 'detour' cost two young generous people their lives and a poor little boy, orphaned.

The three boys sprinted through shortcuts and secret passageways towards the great hall, James worried while Remus and Sirius were chasing after him, carefree, happy and laughing their heads off.

As soon as the three Marauders entered madly dashed into the great hall James made a beeline towards the Gryffindor table, sat down, helped himself to some toast, fixed his ever so messy hair and carefully adjusted his glasses.

Sirius and Remus sat beside him, breathing heavily; James went to grab another slice of toast just as Lily Evans walked in with Marlene McKinnon by her side.

James tried his possible hardest to not look in her direction, Remus realized his friends' dilemma so he passed James the butter and gave a silent nod. James smiled at Remus, nodded thanks and began to spread the butter across his toast, grateful he had something to distract him from the beautiful redhead who had just entered the great hall.

Lily and Marlene made their way towards the Gryffindor table and sat opposite the three Marauders.

"Ladies" Sirius nodded.

"Hi girls" Remus grinned.

"Lilly, Marlene" James smiled.

"Boys." Marlene replied.

"Sirius, Remus, James." Lily smiled back.

Remus silently nudged James, SHE DIDN'T CALL ME POTTER! James thought to himself, he gave himself a silent high five and did a quiet victory dance.

The girls began to help themselves to their breakfast when James blurted out.

"Watch?"

"Excuse me?" Lilly asked.

"Sorry to be abrupt, but why are you wearing a watch? Muggle electricity doesn't work at Hogwarts."

"Oh, its not a normal Muggle watch, I have informed Dumbledore about the fact that I needed a watch to be able to organize my self with my schedule, he adjusted it to work with magic instead of electricity. Without it I wouldn't be able to get to class on time and then I would miss all of the important details and I wont pass my owls and I wont get a job and I will ju…. Sorry, I'm rambling aren't I?"

James didn't admit it, but he loved it when she rambled on about things that she found pointless but James found these things so interesting, everything about Lily was so fascinating.

Lily herself was the most enchanting thing he has ever come across and being raised in a wizarding family, he saw enchanting things each day, but there was nothing as enchanting as Lily, nothing.

"Don't worry, I like rambling." James smiled. Lily look confused, then curious.

"Well then you and I will get along great."

I hope we do James thought to himself, I hope we do.

The girls got into a huge conversation about the latest Hogwarts gossip.

"Is it true that Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewitt, graduated when we were in fourth year having twins?" Marlene questioned.

"I sure hope so, Molly loves kids" Lily smiled.

"This one time I heard Arthur calling her Mollywobbles!" Marlene and Lily collapsed into laughter and gushing about how sweet Molly and Arthurs relationship was.

James and Sirius were in deep conversation over the upcoming Quidditch game, Sirius and James were working on team strategies while Remus sang quietly to himself as he was working on the Gryffindor playbook.

James and Sirius were having an argument over some plays when Lilly spills her pumpkin juice all over herself.

"I'm such a clutz!" She laughed at herself.

James disagreed; he thought she was one of Gods most graceful angels. His eyes shifted to Lily who was moping herself up, still shaking her head at herself and muttering quietly.

James got up from his seat and walked towards Lily.

"Mind if I help?"

"Excuse me?"

"Here, one second."

James fiddled into his pocket, picked up his wand.

"Tergeo"

All of the pumpkin juice suddenly rose off of Lily and vanished.

"Wow, thanks."

"Anytime" James smiled.

Lily looked at her watch and muttered, oh no, going to be late for potions. The three Marauders had already brought their books to breakfast, Lily and Marlene left theirs in the Gryffindor tower, which is at least a six minute walk away from the Great Hall and a 7 minute walk towards the potions dungeons.

They were all already one minute late for class and it would take Lily and Marlene 13 minutes to get there.

"Sirius, Remus. Go to class and buy us some time. We will be five minutes." James ordered.

Sirius and Remus nodded and quickly ran towards the dungeons.

"Lily, Marlene. Quick follow me."

Lily and Marlene looked confused and looked as if they were debating something, but followed James nonetheless.

James took them through a series of odd passageways and pathways that the girls hadn't even known existed.

"It's like you have the map of the school printed on the back of your hand." Muttered Marlene.

"Yeah, something like that." James muttered as his hand silently reached into his pocket as he felt the Marauders map.

"Here we are!" James announced as he stood in the common room.

Lily checked her watched.

"two minutes. It took us two minutes to get here?"

"TWO MINUTES? Hell it takes us six minutes to get to the great hall each morning." Marlene complained.

"Girls, I advise to hurry up, Remus is a good actor and Sirius is a drama queen but I bet they can't hold Slughorn for too long."

"Good point." Noted Lily as she and Marlene made a wild dash towards their dorm.

The girls emerged thirty seconds later running down the stairs with books in their hands, James didn't know what happened but Lily looked a bit different.

He took them back through the passageways and they ran into the potions room, quickly sat down just as Slughorn walked back into the room.

"Black, Lupin. There is absolutely no troll in the dungeons."

"I'm sorry sir, our mistake." Smiled Remus innocently.

"Well, after that brief interruption, I'm going to continue my lesson."

James, Sirius, Remus, Lily and Marlene looked relieved. Peter, confused.

"A…a….a…..are you sure that there was no troll in the dungeons?" Peter asked worriedly.

"Wormy, it was just a prank." Sirius assured him.

"It wasn't that funny." Peter huffed silently to himself.

The only other disruption was halfway through the lesson when Lily dropped her inkpot onto the floor. James cleaned it up, but no one knew what that was about.

~~~~~ Lily ~~~~~~~

I woke up with one of the loudest most obnoxious voices on the planet.

It was coming from the Marauders' room.

"Sirius" grumbled Marlene as she tried to go back to sleep but was disturbed by yet another dramatic Sirius squeal.

"I swear to god Sirius black if you don't shut up…" Marlene got up and walked towards the bathroom muttering curses as she walked.

Well, at least Sirius was good for one thing. No one can EVER wake up Marlene in the mornings.

I laugh at the situation, get out of bed, stretch and follow Marlene towards the bathroom to prepare myself for the day.

It was one of the crazy mornings, Marlene couldn't find her mascara, Mary lost her school tie, Alice couldn't find her perfume and I had absolutely no idea where my conditioner went.

Marlene and I were the first to emerge out of the war-zone of our room, we gossiped our way towards the great hall, on their way I noticed a nervous looking Peter was walking alone, down a dark corridor towards the Slytherin common room. "Just some silly prank" I thought, or rather hoped to myself.

Both of us approached the Great hall and made our way towards the Gryffindor table. I couldn't help herself; something was different about James today. He looked different and was giving off a happy, entertaining vibe. I sat down across from him and Marlene followed, with a raised eyebrow, but no comment.

I noticed that James was buttering his toast with so much determination. Remus and Sirius welcomed us in their own individual ways. James looked up at me, smiled and acknowledged me. Seems like mature James is back with us today.

Marlene and I also greeted them and sat down. I noticed James do a quick jiggle, I have no clue what that was about, but I pretended not to notice.

James asked about my watch and seemed really curious about it, I told him about it but then rambled on a little bit.

I don't know what or why but there is something about James that makes my stomach flip, it gives me a feeling that I have never truly felt before, I hope it doesn't go away. It is a good feeling.

After I apologized for rambling he smiled at me and told me that he liked rambling, I have to admit, I was taken a back a bit. Old James would have just retorted a witty comment, but this James was just genuine and kind. I assured him that we would get along great, James was lost in thought for a second after that.

Marlene quickly informed me about the latest gossip while Sirius and James were arguing about Quidditch. To be truthful, I wasn't exactly focusing on what she was saying, (Sorry Marls) I was watching James out of the corner of my eye. As I picked up my pumpkin juice he was still arguing with Sirius, then he did **THE JAW THING** AND I SPILT MY FRIKING PUMPKIN JUICE ALL OVER ME.

All eyes turned in my direction, I laughed the tension off and began to mop myself up. James quickly stood up and rushed towards me, he asked if he could help me. I was completely baffled when he picked up his wand, pointed it at me and muttered a charm.

I was expecting for my legs to turn to jelly, or to be hung upside down by my ankle, instead all of the pumpkin juice vanished and I was clean.

I stared at James, incredulously.

"Thank you." I muttered, curious.

"Anytime." He smiled.

There was a brief, moment when we both just stood there staring at each other, I quickly checked my watch.

"Oh no! We are going to be late for potions!"

After I shrieked this, I felt pretty embarrassed, its not like the Marauders (Minus Remus) actually care about potions. What James did next, completely took me by surprise.

James quickly panicked and looked towards his friends.

"Go to Slughorn, buy us some time, we will be 5 minutes."

Remus and Sirius nodded, like they knew something Marlene and I didn't.

I'm confused, it takes ages to get to the Gryffindor common room from the great hall and even longer to get from the Gryffindor common room to the Slytherin dungeons.

I think that Hogwarts was programmed like this so the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's didn't tear each other apart while one was sleeping.

Good move Hogwarts, good move.

"Follow me." James looked serious, but there was something behind his eye, a mischievous glint.

Marlene and I had a silent conversation.

"Your kidding right?"

"C'mon Marls, this is James Potter, I don't think that there is a thing on earth he cannot do."

"Except catch you."

Nah he can do that, but I wasn't going to admit that anytime soon.

I just shrugged and pulled Marlene to come and follow us.

James knew the school like the back of his hand, passageway after passageway, and tunnel after tunnel. I could barely take my eyes off of him, he is so… so…., so…, so…., enchanting.

Marlene mentioned something about a map and James acted really mysterious. There is something I don't know, of course, James Potter is like a walking jigsaw puzzle.

We got to the common room in two minutes flat, I'm impressed.

James quickly rushed us, joking about Sirius' acting skills, Marlene and I rant to our room, grabbed our books an were about to leave when I quickly ran to the bathroom.

"Um Lily, now's not the best time to do a shit."

"I'm not."

Marlene walked into our bathroom and stared at me, humored.

I was quickly touching up on my makeup and putting on a bit more eyeliner.

"Ahh, young love." Marlene had to dodge the pillow I aimed at her face.

We ran down to meet James and he stared at me curiously.

"Quick girls, lets go."

We raced out of the common room and through the passageways, James at the front, leading us.

We got to the potions room and quickly took our seats.

Slughorn came in complaining to Remus and Sirius about a troll or something. Remus gave a reasonable answer while Sirius just pretended to act clueless.

Slughorn shrugged the incident off and went back to continuing the lesson.

James smiled a thank you to his friends an Remus winked while Sirius wagged his eyebrows.

Gosh, is there nothing James Potter can't do?

Catch me?

Honey I was already caught ages ago, we have all just been to naïve to notice it.

We were halfway through the lesson when I leaned over to dip my quill into my ink pot , I was distracted by James Potter who I saw through the corner of my eye. He was writing furiously, the muscles in his arm pumping up and down, I grew oblivious to what I was doing and watched his muscles go up and down.

Up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and do...

"CLACK"

The whole class spun around to seek the source of the noise, I look down and see the remains of my ink pot on the floor. Damn James Potter and his damn fit muscles, looking so damn fit shouldn't be legal; who does he think he is? Being all good looking and so distracting.

How dare he.

**A/N**

**I don't know how to leave an authors comment yet but I hope this will work for the moment!**

**I am exhausted and ready to go to sleep, just wanted to say thanks so much for the reviews! I really hope you enjoy this chapter, It's my favorite one yet.**

**I think I am improving slightly, by each fic that I write. Just quickly,**

**I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR ANYTHING YOU RECOGNISE.**

**Also I got the pumpkin spilling jaw thing off of a tumblr textpost.**

**Oh and a massive thanks to ~ Oracle987 ~ for pointing out Muggle accessories don't work at Hogwarts, I hope I cleared that up for you!**

**And before I go, I would just like to say that if you have any feedback or comments about this story please just ask.**

**Reviewing keeps me motivated as it shows that some people actually read my fics!**

**Send me love, send me hate, send me feedback, send me your pet goldfish's name I honestly don't care!**

**I love hearing from you guys!**

**Thanks so much for reading this chapter! I really appreciate it.**

**Amelia Opal**

**xxox**


	6. (Authors Note)

**Dear All,**

**I hope you are all having such a lovely day/night/1am.**

**I would just like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, I am so grateful for all of you and y****ou really kept this story going.**

**I am so sorry to say but this story is no longer being continued.**

**I have such horrible writers block and I have tried to write Chapter 6 over seven times.**

**They were all really bad.**

**I know I have made promises about dedicating chapters to awesome people and all but I honestly can't continue this.**

* * *

><p><strong>A massive thanks to<strong>

**_Voldy The No Nosed Wizard_**

**_lilly flower forever_**

**_ FredMischiefmanagedGeorge_**

**_Oracle987_**

* * *

><p><strong>They are all such amazing writers and really brilliant people. You should really check them out.<strong>

**I will try and write more fics other than this but for the time being I wont be really writing that much anymore, I gave it a go and it didn't really work.**

**I will write again once I have improved, until then,**

**Stay amazing.**

**Don't give a flying foo what anyone thinks of you (I was not intending on that rhyming)**

**Read what you want, write what you want and listen to awesome music.**

**Keep reviewing other people's works; you have no clue what a mood booster reviews are.**

**Preach and be passionate about what you love and be ready to fight for what you believe in.**

**PM me if you need any advice, although I can barely handle my own life I am actually pretty good with giving others advice.**

**Love yourself more than anyone else.**

**I love you all so much, have the best day/week/month/year/life/eternity.**

**You rock,**

**I roll.**

**Adios Amigos.**

**Amelia xxx**


	7. (Authors Note 2)

**Hello my wonderful readers!**

**Another authors comment from me, sorry about all of these comments, but this time I come bearing good news!**

**Thanks to some gorgeous reviewers I have decided that I have not given up on ****_How Dare He _****!**

**It may be paused for a little bit as I am writing the next chapter at the moment!**

**I really hope you enjoy the following chapters, I really put an effort into writing my stories and I appreciate reviews so much! **

**So yeah! _How Dare He_ is back baby!**

**I love you all! Thanks so much for the ongoing reviews and the everlasting love you give me.**

**Enough Mushy stuff from me!** **xx**

**P.s. **

**Oh and some other good news! ****I got a pet goldfish! I called him Dorito !**

**I still would love to hear from you guys!**

** We can discuss HP, Jily, the Marauders, Sirius Blacks hottness and compare goldfish (I honestly don't even know why I'm so obssessed with goldfish)**

**PM me your worries or issues or enquiries or your favourite way to cook pancakes.**

**I like pancakes.**

**I'm hungry now so I'm going to go and get some food.**

**That is a very un-formal way to finish a chapter but ok.**

**Lots of love, Amelia** **xxox.**


	8. How He Made Her Nervous

**She hated the way he made her nervous.**

It was a full moon that night, Remus' wolf form had calmed down a fair lot more than last full moon, but he still was really fierce.

After a couple of hours, we left Remus' human form in the willow, collapsed on the floor from exhaustion by his transformation.

It really breaks my heart to leave him here, just if Sirius, Peter and I get caught, we could be sent to Azkaban.

As we trudged towards the castle under my invisibility cloak, I could've swore I saw a whiff of vibrant Red hair somewhere through a castle window.

Probably just someone's cat.

We walked through multiple passageways and up into the common room. It was strangely empty and absolutely silent.

It was a rare occasion that the Gryffindor common room was entirely silent, and then James reminded himself that it was three in the morning.

When we entered our dorm Sirius and Peter slammed down onto their beds but I had trouble falling asleep.

I was exhausted, yes. But I was absolutely starving and once I get to a point of total starvation I would get so hungry I could actually eat one of peters stingy old socks.

There was no way I am going to put myself through that, so instead I decided to go down for a trip to the kitchens.

I silently got out of bed, nicked the map from Sirius' cloak which was hanging over his bed post, grabbed my invisibility cloak and silently walked out.

I made my way down towards the common room when I stopped and sat on a couch and let my eyes get lost in the fire for a bit.

I was going to think of something really deep and inspirational but I was honestly too hungry and tired.

I grumbled, got off the couch and stretched.

My body instantly lost all of the heat the fire had given it; I threw the invisibility cloak on mostly to keep myself warm and headed out.

On my way down to the kitchens I couldn't help but think that something was not right.

I passed several odd things, such as empty portraits, scribbled up paper, crumbs and I almost tripped over a trail of bobby pins.

I kept checking the map, it was really odd. There was no one here, usually the second floor corridor would be full of teachers, head students and prefects patrolling.

It was almost _too _easy to get down to the kitchens. Except for the rotating stairs, I swear those stairs have it out for me. They are always taking different courses and moving in the opposite of the direction I wanted to go in.

I took a quick scan of my map and realized that Dumbledore was approaching around a corner.

I threw the cloak over my head and turned invisible. The stairs I was currently crouching on were moving towards the third corridor, instead of the first.

No No No No No! Filch is on third and he _always_ seems to catch me.

Dumbledore walked towards the exact staircase I was on and stood right next to my crouching form. He looked down at some rectangular object in his pocket and murmured something about ships. He looked straight at me and smiled.

"Lovely evening."

I didn't say anything. Dumbledore was a bit batty, everyone knew that. He could have just been speaking to himself.

He looked back at his rectangular object and smiled a little too deviously for a man of his age.

He raised his hand in a fist, for a moment I thought he was going to hurt me or pull the cloak off, instead he pounded on the railing of the moving stairs

1.

2.

3.

The stairs stopped in mid air for a brief moment and turned towards the opposite direction, the stairs were leading me straight to floor one.

Dumbledore looked down at me and smiled yet again.

He whistled to himself for a brief moment before the stairs stopped.

I slowly shuffled and got off the stairs, Dumbledore walking alongside me.

He winked and walked away.

Well that was weird. I know that Dumbledore is brilliant and all, but not even Death can see through the cloak.

Anyway, I shook off the thought as I slowly walked towards the kitchens. I still had that feeling, that something is different, not bad different, just different.

I walked towards the fruit bowl painting and tickled the pear, it gave its weird little giggle and the painting swung open.

The next thing I saw was just about the last thing I would expect to see in the kitchens at 3 in the morning.

Lily Evans was sitting by the fire at the far end of the room surrounded by roughly 30 – 40 house elves.

The elves were all sitting on the couch and carpet and listening with such adoration at whatever Lily was saying.

I slowly walked forward and realized what was happening.

Lily Evans was reading fairytales to a herd of adoring house elves.

This was just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

I quietly took a seat, far enough to not be noticed but close enough to watch Lily read.

I sat there, for I don't know how long listening to Lily Evans reading some Muggle fairytale about some girl with step sisters and she fell asleep for a long time and there was a mirror and some apple, oh and a glass slipper and something about snow.

To be completely honest I didn't listen to the fairytale at all, I stared at the house elves.

They were looking love struck, happy to have someone like her, she was like gold in their eyes, and they just looked like they were so grateful to even have met her.

I know the expression.

I see it every time I look in the mirror.

They clung to every word she ushered, the only sound was from another house elf leaving the food area of the kitchen and racing towards the fire to listen.

Some asked questions, Lily just looked at them and smiled. She was so kind, so gentle.

The only house elf that didn't join them was Tooki.

Tooki was personally my favorite house elf. She was finishing up on the dishes while listening to Lily. I realized that Tooki was rushing her work, Tooki loved to clean and I have never seen her rush with something like the dishes.

As soon as she finished, she left the tap on and went towards the fireplace.

Then I realized that she wasn't going towards Lily, she was silently tip toeing to me.

She held a slice of cake in her hands, set it down on the table, gave me a knowing look and quickly slipped back towards the sink.

I finally realized why Tooki kept the tap on, she didn't want Lily to notice that Tooki had finished; Lily would look towards Tooki's direction and spot me.

I shook his head and smiled, ahh good old Tooki.

I had just realized how hungry I had really been so I started to eat my cake.

Lily continued to read, the house elves were still listening with such awe and I continued to smile at what a considerate person Lily was.

Lily finished her book and closed it. There was a murmur through the house elves, some groaned because it was over, others ran up to Lily and thanked her, and one jumped onto Lily's lap and hugged her.

Lily laughed and hugged the house elf.

"Alright! Next week is going to be a surprise!" Lily grinned.

"A surprise!?" A house elf named Filia shrieked excitedly.

"Filia likes surprises!" Filia continued.

"Well you would like the next book I am reading!" Lily replied.

Lily lifted the house elf that was snoozing on her lap onto the couch and stood up.

As she stood all the other house elves quickly stood.

They all began to bow but Lily stopped them.

"No! No! You have all given me such a delicious dinner and you welcomed me into your kitchen. You all have allowed me to read you my favorite fairytales each week and you are all such an excitable audience. It is me that needs to thank you!"

Lily stepped towards the house elves and bowed.

Next all chaos broke lose.

"Ms Lily! SHE BOWED TO US!"

"I don't know what is so surprising Blinker, Lily does it each week!"

"She is such a sweetheart!"

"She is our sweetheart!"

A huge roar came from the house elves as they ran towards Lily and gave her the largest group hug James had ever seen.

"You're right, she is a sweetheart."

All eyes turned towards the back of the room and James walked towards them.

"James?" Lily asked, half shocked, half dazed.

"Hey Lily"

"What are you doing?"

"Listening to Cinderella" James replied beckoning towards the book Lily was holding "Duh."

"But…. Er…. James… UGH.."

"Could you please give us a minute?" Lily politely asked looking towards the house elves.

The house elves quickly scurried out thanking Lily and high fiving James on the way.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked furiously

"I could ask you the same thing." James replied.

"I asked first."

"Asking first doesn't count."

"Still, I was _here _first."

"Yeah but I was here second"

"James Potter I give up." Lily cried

"Ehm Ehm.."

James and Lily spun around to find Tooki bowing to them.

"Mrs Lily and Mr James, we have set up a table." Tooki said pointing towards a corner.

James and Lily looked towards the corner to find a shabby but cozy table with two cushioned chairs.

"Thanks Tooki." James smiled

"Yeah, thank you Tooki." Lily gazed down at the cute little house elf in front of her.

James and Lily walked towards the cozy table in the corner and sat down.

"Okay, now you _have _to tell me why you are here." Lily enquired

"Full moon, got hungry." James shrugged

Lily had discovered that Remus was a werewolf a few years ago and she recently found out that the three other Marauders are helping him through the transformations with something that they can't tell her.

"You still can't tell me what you guys get up to on full moons right?"

"Marauder secret." James answered

Lily sighed and shook her head, these boys are too cocky for their own good.

"Alright fine, but I will find out." Lily said.

"Sure you will." James smirked "now little miss Evans, how about you tell me what _you _were doing down here."

"I was reading."

"Obviously, just why?"

"Well these house elves, they work way to hard. Everyone needs to relax and have a break no matter who or what they are." Lily answered simply.

"So you come down here and read them fairytales?"

"Yup."

"But how come I haven't ever seen you down here?"

"I only come and read to them during full moons."

"Why?"

"Well I feel bad for Remus, honestly imagine having to go through that horrible transformation each month. I just feel so worthless; I can't do anything to make him better. So I focus on the things I can do, I help these house elves and I feel that if I'm helping them in some way I'm helping him."

"You truly are amazing." James whispered to himself.

"Pardon?"

"Oh nothing."

Lily breathed heavily and reached for her glass, took a drink and put it back down.

"So." She said.

"So." He replied.

"Crap!" Lily shrieked as she stood,

"We have our Herbology exam tomorrow morning! I need to get some rest." She continued.

"Come, let me walk you up to the common room." James offered.

Lily nodded and smiled as James stood.

On their way out, James saw Tooki and a group of house elves, hidden behind the couch, peering at James and Lily. James winked at them and smiled at Tooki.

He opened the door, let Lily out and closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>~~~~~ Lily ~~~~~~~<p>

Lily couldn't sleep. Whoever came up with the idea that girls didn't snore had about as much knowledge as a bucket of horseradish. Marlene was on Lily's left and was snoring like freaking Shrek; Emily was on her right and kept tossing and turning in her sleep. Claire was muttering her usual nonsense sleep talk and Alice was breathing so noisily that Lily was seriously contemplating throwing her pillow at her friends face.

Every few minutes Lily would hear an anguished roar coming from her window. She flipped over her watch and checked the Lunar calendar.

"Full moon." She muttered as she put her watch down, stood and made her way towards the bundle of pillows that lay under the window. She sat on a pretty lilac cushion, gazed up and stared at the moon.

"How could something so beautiful be the cause of such horrible things?" Lily whispered to herself.

She averted her gaze from the window, to the large, neatly stacked pile of books that were placed beside her dresser.

Lily nodded silently to herself and made her way over to the beautifully decorated stories.

She knelt before them and began to file through them.

'Snow White? Nah, they'll get offended by the dwarf part'

'Sleeping Beauty? Nope read that last month'

'The Little Mermaid? No way, they cant picture mermaids as harmless creatures'

'Cinderella? Maybe, it has equal Wizard magic and some Muggle details so they wont get too confused. Cinderella is perfect!'

She took the blue and silver embroidered book and placed it in her gold bag.

As Lily made her way down the steps separating the common room from the rest of the castle, she could've sworn that she saw a stag that was accompanied by a dog. She closed her eyes, shook her head and looked back at the window; the stag and dog were gone. She laughed at her own silliness and began to make her way towards the kitchens.

That night was an especially odd night, no one was on duty or even on lookout for the castle. She didn't see any teachers or students.

"Weird" She whispered to herself.

Lily made her way to the kitchens and tickled the pear. It gave its weird little giggle that Lily couldn't help but to giggle as well.

* * *

><p>Lily was halfway through reading Cinderella to the elves and they obviously loved it.<p>

They were hanging on every word she uttered, she got so into it that she barely realized the kitchen door open and close, barely.

Lily didn't want to admit it, not even to herself, but she knew that she was in the same room as James Potter.

It might have been his aura, his glow, Lily might have had a spiritual connection with James Pot- Fine she might have seen his reflection in one of the mirrors that hung opposite the door but that doesn't matter.

Lily totally didn't sit up a little straighter, she definitely didn't smile at the house elves a lot more and of course didn't even flip her hair back over her shoulder a couple of times. Okay fine maybe she did, but that also doesn't matter.

After a while James spoke and Lily put on a bit of a show acting like she had just realized he was there. He seemed to buy it and they sat for a bit to chat.

Lily realized how friendly he was to the house elves. It was common knowledge that the Potters were one of the richest Wizarding families in all of Britain.

Lily didn't expect him to act all snobbish and superior, but she also didn't expect him to act all friendly and kind.

He seemed to have taken a particular liking to the sweet little house elf, Tooki.

Lily was surprised to say that she and James actually got on.

It wasn't the most interesting discussion, but the fact that they could carry on a conversation for longer than five minutes without Lily having to retain the urge to punch him in the face is quite the accomplishment.

Lily didn't understand why every word James ushered caused butterflies to fly crazily in her stomach.

She didn't even notice the time and date. How could she have managed to forget about the test the next day? Lily was just beginning to actually enjoy James' company.

Stupid Herbology.

James usually doesn't care about most of his subjects, but strangely, he also jumped up when she mentioned the test and acted like he really cared and even stranger, Lily believed him.

He even offered to walk her back to the common room; they had a really warm chat on the way up and James even walked her to the bottom of the girls staircase. They even had an almost, almost kiss moment.

_* 'Thanks, James." Lily smiled._

_"Um, yeah okay." James stuttered nervously._

_Lily went for a hug but James went for a hand shake._

_The moment was awkward to say the least._

_Lily changed her hug into a handshake while James changed his handshake into a hug._

_They ended up just standing, at the bottom of the staircase just gazing at each other._

_Lily had just become aware of the 20cm distance between them. _

_Before she could pull away, James beat her to it._

_"Goodnight." He smiled and began to walk away._

_"Yeah, goodnight" Lily called back, in a voice quieter than a whisper._ _*_

_The butterflies were back_

* * *

><p>That night, Lily couldn't sleep. She couldn't help thinking about the almost, almost kiss that she and James had almost, almost shared.<p>

Lily almost, almost wished that it had actually happened.

Almost.

What is happening to her? Loosing sleep over a guy?

What is he doing to her?

How dare she go all boy crazy on herself?

How dare she?

How dare he.

* * *

><p>~~~~~ Dumbledore ~~~~~~~<p>

(Bonus POV)

Tonight. Tonight was a good night. Yes. Yes it was.

Dumbledore saw Lily Evans walking down the stairs to the kitchens. This was the third time he had seen her walk towards the kitchens, always during a full moon and each time clutching a different book. He always tried his best to get the other patrollers away from the kitchens, to clear her path.

But tonight was different, he could feel it.

So naturally, he cleared her path completely. He even managed to convince Filch to patrol the third floor corridor and not leave his post.

Once she was in the kitchens, he relaxed slightly. But he then noticed James Potter walking down from the Gryffindor common room.

To be completely honest with himself, Dumbledore was a massive Jily shipper. McGonagall was completely against him and thought that Lily and James would never get together. But oh, how Dumbledore would prove her wrong.

Young Potter pulled his invisibility cloak over his head and disappeared on a staircase, making his way down towards the kitchens.

Seizing the opportunity, Dumbledore climbed up the seventh staircase and stood beside James' cloak form.

He mentioned something about the weather but James didn't stir.

At that moment, the stairs changed direction and instead of landing them at the first level, it took them to the third, right were Filch was patrolling.

"Oh hell to the no" Dumbledore thought "Damn Hogwarts staircase why do you keep sinking my ships?" He thought again.

Dumbledore shaped his hand into a fist and pounded the railing 3 times. The stairs quickly changed direction and took him and James towards the first floor.

Once the stairs had stopped, he walked away from James with a coy smile on his face.

"McGonagall is so going down."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **

**I am so tired! I finished this in the car on my way out for dinner! **

**I don't exactly know where this was going but I really hope that I continued with the writing style that I had started with in previous chapters. **

**Oh yeah I almost forgot, I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR ANYTHING YOU RECOGNISE. **

**If you had read the previous chapters, you could tell that I kind of gave up. This might be a bit of a failed attempt, if it is please tell me so!**

**I really love hearing from you guys! **

**I hope I continued with the plot and I didn't leave out any important details. It has been some time since I last updated and I really hope that I remembered everything!**

**Thanks so much for reading this chapter! I really appreciate it.**

**Amelia Opal**

**Xxox**

**P.s. I FINALLY got a goldfish! His name is Dorito and he is honestly so adorable! Someone PM me I want to compare goldfish!**


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